Influences of student and family factors on academic outcomes of mainstream secondary school deaf students

This article considers some of the student and family factors influencing the educational achievements of deaf children. It is based on a study of 16-year-old deaf students in mainstream schools in England. Findings indicate the complexity of interpreting statistical results, especially on the effect of degree of hearing loss. The discussion addresses the specific question of why this factor is often reported as not significant in academic achievement. It also considers the surprisingly low effect of family socioeconomic status, speculates on the size of the "school effect" in deaf education, and considers the coding of data.     

Studying new forms of participation and identity in mathematics classrooms with integrated communication and representational infrastructures

Wireless networks are fast becoming ubiquitous in all aspects of society and the world economy. We describe a method for studying the impacts of combining such technology with dynamic, representationally-rich mathematics software, particularly on participation, expression and projection of identity from a local to a public, shared workspace. We describe the types of mathematical activities that can utilize such unique combinations of technologies. We outline specific discourse analytic methods for measuring participation and methodologies for incorporating measures of identity and participation into impact studies.

Inquiring into Teaching: Lesson Study in Elementary Science Methods

This article describes an innovative approach to developing preservice elementary science teachers’ classroom confidence and skills. Based on lesson study approaches, preservice candidates designed and taught integrated science–mathematics lessons during the semester before their student teaching. Working in teams, candidates designed and taught a common lesson in 3 different classrooms, critiquing and refining their lesson between each teaching activity. Data collected from observations of classroom teaching events, team reports, and individual reflections were analyzed qualitatively. Results indicate that, over the 3 teaching events, there were dramatic improvements in lesson design and delivery, the management of the learning environment, the quality of students’ engagements with meaningful content, and the quality of assessments and generation of student data. According to the website of the Lesson Study Research Group, there were more than 2,300 teachers in over 335 schools involved in lesson study in the U.S. as of May 2004 (www.tc.edu/lessonstudy/). Additional lesson study information, projects, and resources are available through a number of other websites, including www.lessonresearch.net (at Mills College) and www.uwlax.edu/sotl.lsp (at The University of Wisconsin–La Crosse)     

How prepared do newly-qualified teachers feel? Differences between routes and settings

Does it matter whether teachers are trained in schools or universities? In England, there is an ongoing change in the balance of routes to becoming a newly qualified teacher (NQT). Given this, and widely-reported problems with teacher supply, it is important to consider whether there are discernible differences between the routes in terms of their outcomes. This paper is based on a re-analysis of the 2015 Department for Education survey of 7,770 NQTs. The outcomes considered are the levels of reported NQT satisfaction with their overall training, preparedness to help improve pupil reading, whether satisfaction varies between routes, phases, and types of provision, how much of any difference is attributable to the prior characteristics of the students or to the routes alone. Using logistic regression, it was possible to explain around 18% of the variation in NQT responses. Most of the variation remains unexplained – perhaps because key but unknown variables are missing, and certainly because the level of satisfaction is generally so high. The average levels of satisfaction for NQTs are largely un-stratified by sex, disability, age and ethnicity. Within the two main routes of school- and university-led there is almost as much variability as there is between them. Once other factors are taken into account, the differences in reported satisfaction between routes and providers are small. There is, therefore, no particular reason to promote or support one route at the expense of the other – at least in terms of NQT satisfaction.     

Ethical Challenges for Student Design Projects in Health Care Settings in New Zealand

Student‐led design projects undertaken within healthcare settings raise considerable ethical challenges, primarily resulting from collaboration with service users. This article emerged out of the experiences of design from a New Zealand university undertaking real world projects in acute health care contexts. A human‐centred approach to design is underpinned by a requirement for students to immerse themselves in the user context to optimise design outcomes. Several issues exist in relation to the management of the ethical complexities arising from these projects. Multiple formal ethical review processes were triggered when students’ projects were defined as research. These processes were perceived as onerous and disproportionate to the scale of the projects, and students were ill equipped to identify ethical issues and engage with formal review processes. This resulted in either abandoned projects or the use of compromised methods. A review of codes of practice and design industry approaches identifies a gap in guidance for both students and qualified designers. Some designers describe their projects as service improvement, and not subject to formal ethical review. This article argues for embedding consideration of ethics in all design projects to enhance the process, to be true to the underpinning philosophy of human centred design and to produce ethically aware graduates. To achieve this, a multi‐pronged pedagogical approach which encompasses both hypothetical, class‐based and real‐world learning experiences is described, with the ultimate goal of normalising the consideration and development of ethical standards for students and best practice across the industry.     

Enhanced use of educational accountability data to monitor educational progress of Australian students with focus on Indigenous students

Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability - In Australia, under the National Assessment Plan, educational accountability testing in literacy and numeracy (NAPLAN) is undertaken with all...